A new report out from the Government Accountability Office, which highlights where executive branch agency programs are costing taxpayers tens of billions of dollars in overlapping costs, demonstrates the Presidential Administration’s hypocrisy with regard to the Federal budget.

The findings of the GAO report that was issued on Tuesday show that while President Barack Obama and top Administration officials have made a point of making Federal cuts stemming from sequester impact the public in visible ways, they have repeatedly failed to reduce costs in places that would eliminate redundant expenses.

There is at least $95 billion in Federal overlap spending that could be reduced.

GAO identified 31 areas where agencies could make cuts in the name of efficiency; among them are 17 areas of fragmentation, overlap or duplication where multiple programs and activities exist. The report also points out 14 areas where opportunities exist to achieve cost savings or enhance revenue collections.

And though GAO has offered Federal officials 81 suggestions that would cut taxpayer costs if the Administration and Congress took the initiative, Americans probably shouldn’t hold their breath. Spending redundancies and suggestions noted in GAO reports for the past two years have gone largely unaddressed.

Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) highlighted the following findings from the report on his website:

21 programs, including eight tax expenditures, are in place to help students save for, pay, and repay the cost of higher education, annually costing $45 billion, $104 billion in financial loans, and $25 billion in lost revenue from tax spending.

Six programs to employ and train veterans are operated by two government agencies, which spent $1.2 billion in FY 2011 to serve 880,000 participants. The GAO found, “Despite these efforts, the unemployment rate for veterans who have recently separated from the military is higher than that for other veterans and nonveterans.”

The Department of Commerce’s National Technical Information Service (NTIS) was established in 1950 and tasked with collecting and distributing certain reports. Despite the fact that nearly 75 percent of these reports are now available online for free, NTIS continues to charge the public, and even other federal agencies, for these reports. Even more, 95 percent of those on other websites, were available for free. Making the government looking even more foolish, GAO explains, “The source that most often had the reports GAO was searching for was another website located at http://www.Google.com.”

The Department of Commerce’s National Technical Information Service (NTIS) was established in 1950 and tasked with collecting and distributing certain reports. Despite the fact that nearly 75 percent of these reports are now available online for free, NTIS continues to charge the public, and even other federal agencies, for these reports. GAO explains, “These results show that NTIS disseminates and charges for many reports that overlap with information that is available for free from federal agencies and other public websites.” Over ten years ago, the GAO issued a report highlighting this clear overlap and government waste. In a November 2012, GAO “estimated that approximately 621,917, or about 74 percent, of the 841,502 reports were readily available from one of the other four publicly available sources GAO searched.” Even more, 95 percent of those on other websites, were available for free. Making the government looking even more foolish, GAO explains, “The source that most often had the reports GAO was searching for was another website located at http://www.Google.com.”

Six separate offices at the Department of Homeland Security are involved in research and development. In one example, “two DHS components awarded five separate contracts that each addressed detection of the same chemical. Moreover, DHS did not have the policies and mechanisms necessary to coordinate or track research and development activities across the department.”

Meanwhile, the $85 billion sequestration “cuts” are leading to furloughs for Federal workers, affecting the National Parks system, closing the White House to the public, grounding the Blue Angels and having other consequences designed to be noticed by the public at large.

Post navigation

Sam Rolley

Sam Rolley began a career in journalism working for a small town newspaper while seeking a B.A. in English. After covering community news and politics, Rolley took a position at Personal Liberty Media Group where could better hone his focus on his true passions: national politics and liberty issues. In his daily columns and reports, Rolley works to help readers understand which lies are perpetuated by the mainstream media and to stay on top of issues ignored by more conventional media outlets.

Join the Discussion

Comment Policy: We encourage an open discussion with a wide range of viewpoints, even extreme ones, but we will not tolerate racism, profanity or slanderous comments toward the author(s) or comment participants. Make your case passionately, but civilly. Please don't stoop to name calling. We use filters for spam protection. If your comment does not appear, it is likely because it violates the above policy or contains links or language typical of spam. We reserve the right to remove comments at our discretion.

GALT

Don’t you just love “pretend investigative journalism” that leadswith a headline……pretending to establish cause and effect.

Clearly this must be an entirely novel function of the GAO in thatthey have NEVER, EVER done this before.

Clearly the Dept of Commerce established in 1950, as noted above,for some reason has recently lost it’s way. ( and this one was repeatedtwice )

Clearly, Congress which must actually submit a budget and/or spendingbill for presidential signature or veto, have never failed to eliminatefraud, waste and duplication, based on GOA “suggestions” or that of other “commissions” until now…….but wait, no budget has been passed, sowe are in the nick of time, problem solved.

Of course, this is simply a repeat of a previous “story” where Coburn alludesto waste, fraud and duplication……with out specificity, and were it not forMr Rolley’s deadline……..and journalistic integrity, the “cause” would remain a mystery.

What will be more of a mystery, is that this budget will be approved and passed by Congress….and none of these problems will be corrected……nor havethey ever been corrected……..yet political blame is always assigned.

Welcome to the “agency problem”…..which is a pervasive problem inall human activity……public or private, of course not many are familiar withwhat it is, or its different manifestations depending on the activity…..sowe see the effects, but never correct “the problem”…….because we neveridentify its source, which simply put…..is our own ignorance.

Today’s comments will be a perfect illustration of this ignorance.

You have met the enemy and THEY is YOU!

Ringgo1

Well, your comment today is certainly the leader in being a “perfect illustration of this ignorance”.

GALT

and we will all eagerly await your analysis in pointing outthose specific things that would prove your assertion?

$20888627

Wait? For what? More communist/socialist/fascist drivel from you? We’ve seen it ad nauseum.

GALT

and another w.i.f.i.

Steve E

GALT, The dumbest guy in the world that I know will even acknowledge that the government wastes a lot of the taxpayers’ money.

GALT

[comment has been removed]

GALT

We having a problem with “willfully ignorant, functional illiterate”?

Or was it “hallucination”? because the claim here ( by Steve )is either one or the other………

since no such thing exists in the piece he is replying to……

Ted Crawford

You need to get used to Galt, his mantra is to obfuscate every issue with Semantics and disjointed commentary. He appearently believes that we will mistake his confused ideaology for intellect!Instead it brings to mind an abservance of Karl Kraus ” Education is a crutch with which the foolish attack the wise to prove that they are not Idiots”!

GALT

and we have another w.i.f.i.

$20888627

Aren’t you the one who ALWAYS makes sure to stand up for Obumma, the most corrupt, evil, incompetent Fraud-in-Chief this nation has ever seen?? That makes YOU the enemy, as if we didn’t already know that you hate America but LOVE her dictators and ruling class.

Brian Barlow

We spend that in one month over seas so if he’s helping Americans I support him. We have to do more for our country!! WE SUPPORT YOU OBAMA!!

$20888627

NO, WE DON’T. The INTELLIGENT people KNOW that this Kenyan fraud is actively destroying this nation thru bankruptcy, . Brian,[comment has been edited] what part of BANKRUPT do you not understand?? You must be a paid Obumma troll like GALT and KG.

John Cherish

It is not 95 billion worth of waste in Obama’s administration it is that much waste in government no matter who is in charge but the problem with Obama is he is purposely making the sequester hurt Americans while at the same time allowing the waste to continue so it is obvious that he is using the sequester to attack his opponents and blaming them for something he and the democrats caused in the first place and something he signed into law. He never accepts responsibility for any of his actions and what makes anyone think he would start now. It is always the blame game with him

GALT

lets see…..there is a majority in the house for republicans and a senatethat can be blocked by a republican filibuster………

since the “sequester” had to get by both of these……to be signed, how does your conclusion follow?

if the republicans are not in favor of the sequester, they could pass legislation that ends it in the house……and watch what the senate does….then you could blame the senate democrats…….

now if the senate did pass it also, and Obama vetoed it…..then you wouldfinally have evidence for the conclusion you have reached.

Warrior

Actually it’s all about the gubmint staying really “busy” with “things”. And “important things” too. What kind of “busy important things”? Glad you asked that question. Ya see, these “busy important things” are in the “national interest”. FORWARD!

Mike in MI

FORWARD! To the next tee!!

Mike in MI

Look up the word “sequester” in a good or a legal dictionary and you’ll find that some of its meanings are “to confiscate” as in government leadership seizing property for its own purposes and control.

Now, I wonder which of the meanings the professional word-parser-in-chief has in mind? Hey!, trolls, he wrote it and presented it. Not me!! The other meanings make nonsense in respect of what is going down.

You don’t need a business background to get the idea that taking something from “A” and giving it to my friend “B” or keeping it for myself “C” makes my gang richer and more powerful. It’s a violation of the Constitution and, therefore, treasonous and a violation of the oaths administered … but. … so what. “My way of business is more better.”

That’s Obamathics – his version of ethics (without having to worry about or be bothered by people (u-u-ugh!) or morals (HUH?).

Smilee

He had a choice, veto it and shut down the government or sign the bill that congress gave him, he did not write the law and the cuts where across the board limiting his decisions making on them. Obama could hurt no one if congress had given him what he wanted he now is only caring out their will.

Richard Schwartz

Here is a term that Obama hates. WORK He could achieve more than his stupid tax increases by cleaning up government. Must be easier to get tax increase than making government work! Why else would he take his route? He gives lip service but doesn’t accomplish a thing. He has at his disposal tools that could save billion but being a government fan will not move on them. He has accounting firms that could audit and coordinate reductions. Why hasn’t he begun? That is part of his job! Explain this: CEO’s work 7 days a week to achieve profitability and Obama spends more time on vacation than working. Bluntly I have no use for no improvement. He is playing president. You see the results. POOR PERFORMANCE!!!!!

GALT

I guess we do live in a dictatorship……..

Tom brown

Ya, keep raising taxes to bail out the mega banks and I can keep living on welfare, food stamps, (whitch is growing) and have free health care,? Life is good here on the sofa. It’s to bad there’s not enough $ to give our kids tours of the White House, but I’m sure Obama, faimly and Biden could use another vacation, they only had about only 8 our so of them so far this year! O ya did I mention were only 17 trillion in the whole, we can dig it deeper! Keep up the good work Obama, I’m glad someone like Brian Barlow and I don’t care about a budget, just keep the checks coming?

Brian Barlow

I don’t have to agree with you Sir and if there’s something, Mr. Obama can say is he’s trying to get our country back on track for the middle class/ small business! Americans for Obama!!! I voted for him!!!

Thegovernment’s assault on your personal liberties, including transgressions by the NSA and IRS, proves NOTHING IS OFF-LIMITS! But they’re not your only enemy. In your FREE copy of The Ultimate Privacy Guide discover simple, effective strategies for making Big Business and Big Government BUTT OUT of your personal life!

We will not sell or rent your email address to anyone for any reason. You can un-subscribe at any time.

Look Inside The Ultimate Privacy Guide

The unconstitutional assault on America's civil liberties is continuing with fanatical vigor thanks to the government's gross misuse of power, including transgressions by the NSA and IRS. NOTHING IS OFF-LIMITS! Government SPYING and MANIPULATION is now becoming the American way. But they’re not your only enemy. In your FREE copy of The Ultimate Privacy Guide you'll discover how to: